What is the gospel?
The word “gospel” means “good news.” But the good news the Bible proclaims far exceeds any other; it is indeed great news! What is this great news? The great news of the gospel is that Jesus Christ is who He is, and he does what he does.

Who is Jesus?
The Bible teaches that there is one God who is three in person: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father sent the Son to take on a human nature that he might mediate between God and sinful men, women, and children as the God-man (John 3:16, 1 Timothy 2:5). This one is Jesus. Who is He? He is fully God, and fully man and the mediator of God’s elect.

What did Jesus do?
The second person of the Trinity, God the Son in human flesh, mediates between God and man as prophet, priest, and king. As a prophet, he proclaimed salvation to the world through Him alone (John 14:6), and He gave us His Spirit that we might believe His message (John 4:24). As a priest, he shed His blood on the cross as a once-for-all sacrifice to pay for the sins of His very sinful people. His resurrection validated His priestly work (Acts 17:31). As King, God gave Him authority over heaven and earth to rule every square inch of the universe for the good of God’s people and the glory of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

What does Jesus do?
He continues to act in heaven as the mediator between God and His elect. As a prophet, He teaches us by His word (the Bible) and Spirit (The Holy Spirit) that we are sinners, that we need salvation from our sinfulness, that Christ is the only Savior, that he is able and willing to save us, and how to live unto God. As a priest, He intercedes for His people as an advocate, always praying for them (1 John 2:1, Hebrews 7:25). As King, He subdues His people to himself, rules and defends them, and will finally put an end to sin and death when He, the King, returns. In other words, Jesus is Lord and the Savior of His church.

Does the gospel affect me?
Be warned, all who are outside of Christ on judgment day will receive eternal punishment for their sin! Don’t let this be you! Your sins condemn you, but there is a savior. Believe in Christ alone as Lord and Savior, and He will forgive you of your sins; this is why he died. God loves to forgive sinners because this is how He brings glory to Himself. Every man, woman, and child who hears the gospel can receive Christ for the forgiveness of sin unto eternal fellowship with God for the praising of His name. What an act of Love that the Father sent the Son to die for sinners, and the Son sent the Spirit to draw us to the Savior. Have you received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? Today, you have the opportunity. Don’t delay!

Where is the gospel going?
The whole point of the gospel is to bring glory to God the Father through the Son, by the Holy Spirit. Thus, the forgiveness of sins is not the end. The horizon is yet higher. The end is our eternal fellowship with God and His eternal glory in the world without end.

When visiting Providence Orthodox Presbyterian Church expect a warm welcome.  We care deeply about the gospel of Jesus Christ and about growing together as a community of believers.  We would love for you to worship and fellowship with us at one of our regularly scheduled worship services: Sundays 11am and 5pm.

We believe that gathering in the presence of God to worship him is what we were created and redeemed to do. Therefore, we are a worship-focused church.  During Sunday morning and evening services, we set aside time to come into the presence of God as a community of believers to give him glory, honor and praise. When gathering in God’s presence we are called to take a posture of respect and reverence (Heb. 12:28-29).  This attitude, however, is not at odds with genuine joy as we celebrate each Sunday the resurrection of Jesus and the glorious salvation he has accomplished! Our worship services are regulated by God’s word so that nothing of human invention might creep in and our services reflect the biblical dialogue between God and his people: He speaks, and we respond.  The morning service is about 75 minutes and the evening service is an hour.

Every worship service in every church has some kind of order in which different elements of worship are observed. At Providence, our order of worship intentionally reflects the gospel.  For example, after being welcomed to worship God through Jesus, we confess our sin together and then read a passage of Scripture that assures us of God’s forgiveness through faith in Jesus.  We print this order of worship in our bulletin so that each person present will be able to understand what we are doing and to fully participate in worship.  The order of worship follows this general gospel-shape each week, but with fresh content that causes us to reflect upon a different facet of the gospel.

Our entire worship service is saturated with Scripture, but special emphasis is placed on the sermon in which a particular passage from Scripture is preached. Our regular practice is to preach through entire books of the Bible so that each passage is understood within the context of the book and the whole scope of the Bible.  Occasionally, topical series that focus on a specific doctrine may be preached.  No matter the topic, the preaching is always rooted in the word of God and expository in nature, which means sermons explain the text.  We also abide by Jesus’ own interpretive method from Luke 24:27, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he [Jesus] interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”  In other words, our sermons from both the Old and New Testaments are Christ-centered as the whole Bible testifies to the good news of Jesus Christ.

Before the sermon text is read, you will often hear the pastor say, “Let us give our full attention to the reading of God’s holy, inspired, inerrant and infallible word.”  This is one way of calling our attention to the importance of God’s word for our lives and also our confidence in its truthfulness.  We truly believe that the Bible is set apart (holy) from every other category of book because every word has been given by the Holy Spirit (inspired) and therefore it is without error (inerrant) and will not lead us astray (infallible).

Alongside the preaching of Scripture, God has also given his church two observances, historically called sacraments. Similar to preaching, which is an audible word, sacraments are a visible word which proclaims what Jesus has done for us.  The two sacraments of the new covenant are Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  These two sacraments are given by God to come alongside the preaching of Scripture to give spiritual strength to his people by the Holy Spirit through faith.  We celebrate the Lord’s Supper once a month and have baptisms whenever new members are welcomed into the church.

Another important aspect of our worship is our response of praise to God for what he has done for us through Jesus. Colossians 3:16 instructs us to sing to God together so that his word would penetrate our hearts.  Our songs, therefore, are rich in biblical content and intentionally praise God and teach one another in the truth.  Each person in worship is encouraged to sing enthusiastically regardless of their musical skill.  At each service we sing both psalms along with hymns that have been passed down to us throughout the history of the church including some modern hymns.  

Children are an integral part of our worship services both morning and evening. The Bible calls parents to train up children in the way that they should go so that they do not depart from it.  Therefore, our children stay in our services, singing, confessing and sitting under the word with the congregation as a whole.  If you are a parent, this may sound a little stressful as your child(ren) might not always be the quietest.  At Providence, we understand this and accept, even welcome, the sounds of children in the seats because it means that our Christian faith is being passed down through the generations. We do have a nursery available for parents to use if necessary. Audio is piped into the nursery so that the sermon can still be heard.  In addition, many of the women members of the church have volunteered to help in the nursery as needed or to even sit with families that want a little extra support during the worship service.  Please feel free to ask to be pointed in the direction of one of these women when you visit.  We also have children’s Sunday school for all ages during our Sunday school hour at 9:45AM.  Just be sure to give us a heads up if you plan to bring your children so our teachers can prepare accordingly.  Feel free to request our Children/Youth Protection Policy in printed version.